And my COVID-19 test result is …
“Open wide …” All this week, I’ve had a cold. My sinuses were plugged like a frat house toilet, and I developed a cough that sounded like an angry harp…
Maurice Tougas
Make ’em laugh, make ’em laugh …
The cast of Arrested Development Last week, in an attempt to alleviate the tedium of the Coronapocalypse, I offered some dramatic fare to help you fill the thousands of empty…
Thank you, Philo T. Farnsworth
Cast of The Shield In this time of the Coronapocalypse, let us pause for a moment to salute one of the greatest men of history, a man who made this…
Scenes from a mall
The only food court customer. On Saturday, at great personal risk, I went to a shopping mall. I know, crazy, right? Taking a risk like that? Am I insane or…
Welcome to Panicville. Population: us
Have you heard that Tom Brady has left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? This is HUGE news … at least it is right now. Normally, I…
“Ma-ma-ma-my Corona …”
Two things concern me about the Coronavirus, a.k.a. COVID-19, a.k.a. We’re All Going to Die!! They are hoarding, and the stock market. Oh, and I suppose the virus. First, let’s…
Stuff Still Happens IV, the Reckoning: Welcome to Wuss Nation
First things first: Canada is a great place to live. Prosperous, generally kind, accommodating, peaceful. All good stuff. Maybe it’s because Canada is so kind, accommodating and laid back that…
Stuff Still Happens IV, the Reckoning, Week 24: Raptors? What Raptors?
If you’re a regular reader of this blather, you’ll know that I am most decidedly not a “fan” of the Toronto Raptors (and for the record, neither are the millions…
Stuff Still Happens IV, the Reckoning, Week 23: Genocide? Not in my country
The final report of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (shorted to the ungainly MMIWG) was released this week. The final report was about 1,200…
Stuff Still Happens IV, The Reckoning: Week 22: Welcome to the new normal, and it’s not nice
It’s summertime here in Alberta (well, actually it’s not, but we tend to call anytime without snow on the ground summer), a time when the sun shines for 18 hours…
Stuff Still Happens IV, the Reckoning, week 20: The issue that won’t go away
If you want an example of how Canada and the United States differ, look no further than developments in Alabama this week. Alabama – a southern U.S. state with such…
Stuff Still Happens IV, the Reckoning, week 19: The Greens are coming, the Greens are coming!
Don’t look now, folks, but the Green Party has quietly become a force in Canada. In British Columbia, the Greens hold the balance of power in the minority NDP government.…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 18: Jason Kenney goes to war
No one can say that Jason Kenney is easing into his new job as premier of Alberta. After appointing his cabinet this week (one from Edmonton, as expected, most of…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 17: God bless the Bruins
The first 16 weeks of the year have been pretty heavy on the news side, what with elections and mass shootings and bombings and Mueller reports and SNC/Lavalin and resignations…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 16: The results, and Paris is burning
On Tuesday night, I was listening to Rachel Notley’s defiant concession speech. At one point, she said that child poverty in Alberta had been cut in half during her four-year…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 15: The end is near …
As a citizen of the province of Alberta, I will dutifully head to my nearby polling station to cast my vote in the provincial election on Tuesday. I admit that,…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 14: Debating the debate
During any political debate, voters and the media are always looking for the knock-out punch. Brian Mulroney famously destroyed John Turner in one debate in 1984, and Jim Prentice notoriously…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 13: On GSAs, Mueller and JWR’s illegal wiretap
We all know that Donald Trump is a dirtbag, but is he a worse dirtbag than Justin Trudeau? An Ipsos poll on Thursday gave Trudeau an approval rating of 40%,…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 12: It’s the RNP vs. the UCP
Finally, after weeks of a pre-election posturing, the real posturing has begun. Here in the People’s Republic of Alberta, Rachael Notley recalled the legislature, had the Lt. Gov. read a…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 11. The real world comes to New Zealand
We don’t hear a lot about New Zealand. Peaceful, stable countries don’t tend to make the news. Tragically this week, Australia’s little brother was thrust into the world’s spotlight for…